Within the whole process of creating the film we have been faced with a number of different problems. There have been ones that have only appeared once and some which have kept reoccurring and almost haunting us at times.

The main one that kept reoccurring the most was the rescheduling of shoots due to actors availability. This was something that brought a lot of pain for us at times, as it could be that we all organised with all the crew and all accept one actor who just wasn’t available at that time of day. There were many times when as a group I think we wanted to cry as we felt like we were never going to finish filming. When we finally did, you don’t know how relieved I was especially. Another one which was a more regular occurrence was that we weren’t always able to get through shots very quickly because we were at times limited with the equipment and the number of crew members we had even when we were all at a shoot. We did also have some though where we weren’t all able to be there, but we did try our best to work the shoots around so that we could be there as much as we could be.

Whilst shooting we have had a large variety of problems including the weather, for example we have had snowfall just a couple of hours before we shoot, so we were close to cancelling it, but instead we decided to push ahead and continue with it. This shoot was probably on of the most difficult as it was raining the entire time, so we had to make sure we were keeping all of the equipment dry, to not damage it, keep the actors as dry as we could for the mise en scene of the film, as well as all keep warm. Throughout the entire shoot we were all declaring that we could no longer feel out toes and by the end we were just shivering in the dark. This was definitely my least favourite shoot of them all. Closely followed by the first one on the top of the moors, where we had snow and it was absolutely freezing due to the wind that was blowing as well. Within this shoot we had to make sure to look after James’ Granddad Peter as was shooting the topless shots and the barefoot shots in this weather. We all felt awful as it was so cold, but he was an absolute trooper during the shoot and didn’t complain once. Within this shoot we also had to take into consideration that we were in a public place and for Peter to feel comfortable around the crew that were there we made sure that we were shooting quickly and effectively so that he wasn’t uncomfortable or cold at all.

For the first moors shoot we had a number of problems that occurred that day one of which was afterwards, when we lost all of the audio files for that shoot. Fortunately we were easily able to correct this without having to reshoot anything on the moors. Another problem that become more reoccurring as we came towards the later shoots within the process are that the child actors became a lot more unresponsive as time passed, so sometimes it took longer to shoot scenes because we weren’t getting what we wanted from them. This meant that we had to get further and further behind in the schedule, which meant that we were then challenged even more as we had to at points really fight to keep their attention for longer periods of time so that we could get everything that we needed shot.

On the biggest shoot we did actually have to decide that we would finish early as it was just too difficult for us all to keep focused, as well as not wanting to stay in the Gilligan’s house for too long as we had already been there for most of the day. Within a couple of shoots we did have a couple of moments of just stupidity, where I was trying to get behind the scenes pictures and videos and accidentally walked into the shot or stopped where I thought I would be out of the way but them ended up in a reflection, this was then sometimes a case with a little lack of communication on the crews side as sometimes the sound equipment or even person ended up in the shot. This is something that we learned and developed within the shoots, as it didn’t always occur, but once we picked up on it we made it a focus within a shoot so that we could avoid having to do too many takes.

When in the editing process we have been challenged by creating the naked effect, as Peter wasn’t naked in any of the shots so we have had to find an effective way to create the look that there is an naked man on the moors. We have had to blank out the under ware he was wearing so that he was comfortable whilst shooting. Masking this out has to be done frame by frame so it can be quite a time consuming process.

In the leading up to the main screening we decided that we should give anyone that wanted one a copy of the film, but since we are so extra we decided that we should create DVD cases for the copies. This meant that we had to make a sleeve that goes over the case. Since the posters we already created were so good we decided to make it the front of the case too.

Starting with a blank canvas with the original poster design. This initial design meant that the majority of the work had already been done and that only the back of case had to be designed. We stripped the bottom of the other poster and placed it at the top to fill any negative space that would be left if there wasn’t enough text. The spin of the case was measured and then space was left in the design. a gradiated background was used as solid blue and solid black didn’t look very nice. The typical logos and symbols were placed along with the rating of the film and why it was given that classification. A fake bar code was also added for authenticity. The spine of the cover looked a bit bare so the title from the poster was ripped out and placed on the spine strip, using the cloning techniques the red strip was extended so that the whole strip was covered. The new and improved 80’s JAMA logo was then added in to show who made it and then 12A logo was placed on the front and the spine, along with the DVD logo. Information about the DVD was then added on the back to sell the “real” DVD feel. Finally, a blurb was added on the back of the case along with a quote and the credits of the film enlarge from the poster.

This then became the finished product. In addition, the dimensions of the cover were spot on, meaning that they fit perfectly into the cases.

For our audience feedback we though that the most effective way for us to reflect on the feedback we have received from our premier was to do a podcast so that you can listen to discussions we have had since receiving our feedback and see how we have reacted to the audiences responses.

The story of FLICKER is based around a friendship that is established after Kat and her best friend Toby find ‘Him’ on Danforth
Moor. We see how their friendship blossoms with a little electrical assistance.

Within this film there are two sides that work seamlessly together. The side that provides Kat with hope and the side that shows her what her reality at this time is. Both sides blend together smoothly into an enjoyable film. With every
scene showing purpose as the film progresses.

The mise en scene of the film has clearly been planned and executed to a high standard to say that they were so limited with facilities. There is a clear link to the 80s even, which help to draw attention away from the modern day features that are unavoidable. To say that there are only four-crew members all of the areas have been covered effectively within sound, shots and costume. There are a range of shots included, such as close ups, wide angles and drone shots, which help to create variety within this steadily moving film.

The running time is just over eighteen minutes, which is lengthier than most short films, but all of the scenes involved help to tell a part of the story effectively leading up to the catharsis at the end. Meaning that your attention is continuously drawn. A way that time could have been reduced could be in reducing the length of some scenes, but this could then affect the fluidity created within it. The use of the different shots with the narrative shown through both Kat and her Uncle’s perspectives helps to keep your attention for the length of the emotional journey shown.

Within Flicker there are some definite issues with continuity that show up, such as the changing position of the police badges, the weather at times and costume changes. Some of which have been made less apparent with the use of editing, which make it a lot easier to miss and skip over from a non-prying eye.

Despite its running time issue within Flicker the teamwork behind the production has been successful, especially the collaboration between Wentworth-Weedon and Dunk, as they have created a successful science-fiction world.

Other successful works that members of the crew have worked on you may have heard of…

Childhoods End – Rated *****
A trailer produced by the whole team for their film Childhoods End.

City Connect Reindeer Ride: Leeds -Bradford -Rated *****
A film produced by the two directors of ‘Flicker’ to raise awareness of the northern reindeer ride.

Despite of how delighted we are with our short film, there are still a web of issues and areas of improvement that we can scrutinize. With such a massive production however, it’s very easy to nit-pick the qualities that we weren’t so content with, but we will start by discussing the broader issues which we could have taken into consideration at the start.

The length. As an obvious one, this ‘short’ film is 18 minutes long. It should be said that we don’t think that this at all decreases the quality of the film, but only disgruntled our viewers as it is more of an episodic length as opposed to a short. With a 12 page script, we had anticipated it to be around the 15 minute mark, but the 18 minutes was reached through our decision to leave breathing room for the emotion and dialogue.

Our decision was initially to have a final cut, which would be for the examiners and the blog, but have a personal director’s cut which was longer, with more breathing space which didn’t feel quite so rushed. We made the executive decision to merge these two ideas, because the fast paces scenes work very well, but the slower scenes are also valuable. This way we have one polished cut of the film, and there’s no pretension or snobbery around it. We are confident that this will not affect the film’s quality.

The story. We have our doubts as to whether we made the most of the opportunity in making a short film of this scale. The attention to detail in Flicker is something that we are incredibly proud of, but after seeing it so much it’s hard to understand why people will like this film. Our anxieties lie in the verisimilitude of the alien character. Why should people believe this? With a bigger budget we could have explored more CGI tricks to showcase this, but our decision to use only practical effects in his powers may have cost us the depth of the plot. Our practical effects weren’t incredibly careful or precise either. The lights flickering is a motif that is ingrained into the viewers’ minds from the beginning of the film, with the knowledge of the old alien man, it would be interesting to see how many people felt a cathartic effect when they paired the two together. Without this connection, the ambiguous resolution is void of any feeling. The cathartic and relieving breath at the end is confusing without the connection of the information. Maybe we shouldn’t be so pessimistic about this, but we will see at the screening whether the message was received.

Performance. Not at the fault of anyone, the performances generally could have been better, with more delicate direction. We are undeniably impressed by our child actors, whose drive to persevere with the stress of the shoots was motivating. They are, after all, children – getting any sort of performance out of them at 10 and 14 years old was impressive. The case is the same for our 80 year old lead, Peter. He was sharp at times, but communication was difficult due to his partial deafness. Some of the lines of dialogue sounded incredibly forced with the children. For instance, we found ourselves cutting a lot out of the TV scene because it was a 7 hour shoot and Libby was understandably very tired. Lines such as “Yes! Emotional! The TV made you feel that way!” grate against our ears, so we were happy to delete them. “We need to go. Now.” The line itself wasn’t bad, but Evan didn’t get the delivery quite right.

Sound and music. Despite our amazing sound equipment, having to sync up the sound in post was a massive delay to the post-production. Also, it left some clips out of sync, and we overlooked them. Furthermore, when we added echoes to some of the clips later on, the effect cut out as soon as the clip stopped. This means that we had to extend the audio clips, which was manual and dulling. Our sound mixing was, however, impressive. We made sure that our tracks were easy to listen to, and flowed nicely into each other. There wasn’t a great deal of noise in the audio, besides Scene 8, but we were by a roadside so avoiding it was difficult.

A further improvement would be our attention to detail with the soundtrack of the film. We have some gorgeous synths and guitar/piano melodies which work excellently in certain parts of the film, but mostly, the synths are random and only provide a gentle hum, to thicken the texture of the sounds.

Within the production of Flicker we have used many science fiction conventions to help us produce a science fiction short film that would be successful. To say that we were so limited with budget and resources we did a pretty good job overall.

In the beginning when were creating the narrative and characters for the film we used theories from Prop and Todorov to help us tell the story that we wanted to effectively. For example we used Prop’s theory on the typical character types to help us create the correct characters for our story a couple of example being Kat representing the hero, the Uncle as the villain and Him as the donor who provided a magical element to the film throughout because we were constantly learning about him and how he developed throughout the film. Where as all other characters were manly established within the first couple of minutes of appearing in the film. Because we wanted to show the development of one character slowly through the film, this meant that we knew we were going to be making a longer short film than we would have thought, just so that we could effectively produce a film that flowed and showed the conventions that we wanted to. We feel that we have included the perfect number of characters within our film, as within any short film there will normally be as little as 2 or three, but because ours was that little bit longer it allowed us to have five. Three of which were the main character (Kat, Him and Toby) and two supporting characters (Uncle and Runner). By having the supporting characters it helped us to balance out the genders as well as keep the film balanced.

We used Todorov’s structure theory to help us with creating the structure of our narrative. His theory results in Kat and her everyday life at the beginning being the equilibrium, when Him arrives this causes disruption to the world causing the disequilibrium to take place. This carries on through most of the film until the death of the Alien when the re-equilibrium is established because Kat goes back to the reality that was her life before discovering our Alien. This theory is then finally thrown off more at the end when the catharsis moment kicks in at the very end when the lights flicker to show that he is still actually alive. When creating this narrative we didn’t come up with any themes that we wanted to show definitely within the film, as we wanted to let the audience enjoy watching it and come up with their own ideas. From feedback that we have received we have found that the development of love and friendship are the ones that show most effectively within this narrative.

When we decided that we were going to create a science fiction film we knew that it was going to be difficult as we can only do so much with practical and visual FX in the short amount of time that we have had to produce the film. This is something I think we have achieved effectively as we were able to use the science fiction character that we created to help embellish how we can show this. Because we created a science fiction character we had full control over how we showed this element. We chose to show it through the use of electrical signals that were controlled by the Alien’s emotions. We found that by choosing to show it this way we could work with our limitations, but still effectively show the science fiction side within the film. The only places that we really used the visual FX were to make the lights flickering more prominent and defined within the original shots, or in new shots where it hadn’t been included. We also used it to make the Him appear naked within the first scene, as we wanted to make Peter and all of the cast fee comfortable within the shooting process of the film as well as show a broader range of skills.

To help emphasise the science fiction side of the film, we made sure to show that Kats character was obsessed with science fiction as well. We showed this effectively within the mise en scene as we used 80s radios, VHS tapes and posters to show the time of which the film was based in. Some of the films on the tapes were science fiction again helping to emphasise this point, one that stand out being the Iron Giant. A film, which we used to inspire the relationship between Kat and Him as she idolises Him just like the child, does within the Iron Giant. The visual link between her love for the film and her new found love of our Alien helped us to emphasise the genre more within the film than I think we originally thought it would.

Overall we have produced an effective science fiction short film in the time that we have had available to us. We have managed this with teamwork, a plan and an incredible cast. Who have helped us to create a science fiction film that may not meet all of the typical conventions that may have been expected but some that may also not have been thought of to say we had so many limitations.

This is our final film group poster design. It was designed by James as he took ideas from each of our individual designs (my original) and put them all together within the poster as best he could, so that it was like a group effort like this whole process of creating the film has been. I really love this poster design as it is very discreet, but also looks very much like a short film poster.

As you can see below I have included the two film poster designs that we have chosen. The first one is the actual film poster for the film designed by James that has taken ideas from each of us and have all been applied into one. The second one is Matthew’s design tat looks very sci-fi, which we felt would be effective for the front cover of the DVD case and the posters that we had signed by the cast and crew members.

Some screenshots that we have taken through the process of producing the one we have chosen as the DVD case cover, which is Matthew’s design…

The story of FLICKER is based around a friendship that is established after Kat and her best friend Toby find ‘Him’ on Danforth moor. We see how their friendship blossom with a little electrical assistance.

Within this film there are two sides that work seamlessly together. The side that provides Kat with hope and the side that shows her what her reality at this time is. Both sides blend together smoothly into an enjoyable film. With every
scene showing purpose as the film progresses.

Mise en scene of the film has clearly been planned and executed to a high standard to say that they were so limited with facilities. There is a clear link to the 80s even which help to draw attention away from the modern day features that are unavoidable. To say that there are only four-crew member all of the areas have been covered effectively with sound, shots and costume. There are a range of shots included, such as close ups, wide angles and drone shots, which help to create variety within this steadily moving film.

The running time is just over eighteen minutes, which is lengthier than most short films, but all of the scenes involved help to tell a pert of the story effectively leading up to the catharsis at the end. Meaning that your attention is continuously drawn. A way that time could have been reduced could be in reducing the length of some scenes, but this could then affect the fluidity created within it. The use of the different shots with the narrative shown through both Kat and her Uncle’s perspectives helps to keep your attention for the length of the emotional journey shown

Within Flicker there are some definite issues with continuity that show up, such as the changing position of the police badges, the weather at times and costume changes. Some of which have been made less apparent with the use of editing, which make it a lot easier to miss and skip over from a non-prying eye.

Despite its running time issue within Flicker the teamwork behind the production has been successful, especially the collaboration between Wentworth-Weedon and Dunk, as they have created a successful science fiction world.

When it came to designing my actual poster design, I learned that we don’t actually have a shot where the characters are stood in the position I had originally put them in for a portrait film poster. When I first watched the actual scene of the scene of where Kat and Him met I looked at the long shots that we had and found that the character were far to far apart for me to use to create the effect that I wanted. My intention from the beginning was to create a poster that was a shot from the film so that we could include the raw emotion from the film in the poster as well.

From watching further into the scene I have seen a different shot that is very similar, but a lot more zoomed in. this will differently show the emotion I want to as well as not give away as much of the film, because you can only see the upper body of the characters as they meet with no radios in. I have found from looking this I will have to adapt to a landscape poster instead of Portrait as well as move around the layout of the title and people starring in it, but I think that this new shot will be a lot more effective as a poster than my original idea, even though I loved that as well.

As you cans see in the example photos below the first two are the shots which were available for me to use for my original idea and as you can see within them the characters are far too far apart, as well as them been from the wrong angle to create the image that I desired. Where as in the last picture you can see how the new shot that I want to use is more effective as you can see the emotion, the characters are the desired distance away and it doesn’t give away as much in the photo. Finger’s crossed when I finish the design it will attract an audience as it will be quite a mysterious poster, that will make a different kind of audience want to watch it because it doesn’t give too much away.

Within the process of creating our film Flicker we have used a range of different media technologies along the way to help assist us in I all of the different stages. Within this post I am going to break down how we have been assisted in the many different areas as we have progressed through the creation, production and editing sections.

In the very beginning of the process when we were first coming up with the different ideas for the film for the narrative and the characters we used films and other short films to help influence any ideas. We used them to help us find a solution as to how we may be able to show an idea that we have, for example showing how are going to put in the electrical reactions from the alien. We have had to do research into how we could use practical effects and then how we are going to put the finishing touches in within post, so that we can make it believable within the final product that this alien can only communicate through the use of electrical signals. To help with further research into these areas we have used Youtube as there are so many different examples to show how people use both practical and post to help within the creation of their special effects. We wanted to make sure that we have used both within the film as it allows us as a group to show a large amount of skills across the board. YouTube is where we had the best access to other short films as this is where most will be published due to being the place that they can receive most views and attention from the audience.

When it came to planning we used films such as The Iron Giant to help inspire areas of the film as well as others such as La La Land for areas such as the Catharsis, which we wanted to make sure we include within the film. This is the moment of realisation within a film, which within ours is shown through when Kat figures out that the Alien can only communicate through electrical signals and his emotions. By using media technologies for this part, it has really helped me to have a better understanding of elements such as a catharsis as I had never even heard about it before the beginning of year 13.

When it came to research for this production we mainly used the internet to help assist us within this section of the process, as we were able to access a variety of different short films reviews and the actual films them selves so that we could see how science fiction short films are normally received by an audience in accordance to science fiction full length films, which can be some of the most popular in the box office when they are released. We used the internet to help us as we used it for watching a range of different short films that were science fiction and ones that weren’t so that we could see which appealed to us most as a group. As group we are able to use research to our advantage as we all have very different tastes in films, for example I prefer to watch more stereotypical female films such as romance and comedies, but I do enjoy the odd thriller and action film as well. Where as the boys love their marvel and superhero films, as well as their science fiction ones. All three of them love different genres as well though like action and horrors so between us we have a good understanding of each of the genres. We used the website Survey Monkey to create an online questionnaire that we have all posted on our blogs for the audience to complete. It includes the stereotypical questions such as age and gender so that we can have a better understanding of who as a target audience enjoys science fictions films the most, but it also includes questions such as what are your three favourite science fiction films, as these are the kind of answers we can use to help with the decisions we make for an developments if there are any that are similar to films that are popular especially within the target audience.

Within the production section of the process we have used a range of different bits of equipment, we have used two Nikon Cameras, with a range of different lenses. From smallest to largest these are 16-35mm, 50mm, 24-70mm, 85mm and 105mm for the macro shots. By using this range of different lesnes we have been able to include a huge range of shot types from wide angle to extreme close ups. We have also used James’ drone which is a DGI Phantom 4 drone to help get establishing and filler shots as this is something that we know not all groups are using due to not having access to it. We know this helps to make our film stand out that little bit more. We have also used equipment such as the jib and dolly with the track so that we can get some lovely panning shots as well as ones that tracking ones that follow or lead the actors as they are talking, for example the one where Kat and Toby are having a conversation whilst trying to locate Him within their radio. We have also used tripods, the rig, the slider and have got some hand held shots where we have used a technique where we put the strap around your neck and pull the camera forwards so that you have better and smoother control over the movement of the camera.

For sound we have used a road NTG 2 Shot Gun mic, a road blimp, a road boom pole, a wind sock (dead cat), we have recorded to an external mic which is a HM4 Pro we have shot all sound and images on at least 32gb memory cards if not more.
Within the editing process we have used the software Premier Pro cc, do to both Matthew and James having a very good understanding of how this software works.
We have also at the very end used DaVinci Resolve to do all of the colour balancing/ correction that we need on the whole film in one. This is the last thing we have done as it is easier due to having to export the film from Premier to this as a whole. We have used Premier to cut the clips, sync the roar audio from the external mic, transitions, exposure corrections and special effects, such as particle grain and particle fog effects.

We are currently working on producing a soundtrack for the film. We are recording the tracks into Garage Brand and Logic Pro. Within Logic we are also sorting EQ within Logic to make sure that everything within the tracks are equal and how we would like them. To put the soundtrack with the actual film footage we are putting them together in Premier so that we can balance the volume to the film.

When it comes to thinking up ideas for the poster that we have to create we have all researched into different film genre posters and if there are any stereotypes we may want to stick within for our science fiction film. We have then used our findings from looking into other types of poster to help us use what we have to create one, for example Matthew has created one that is more based around the layout of a science fiction one where you see the characters with the main ones as more key figures within the whole picture, where as I went more with wanting to include one of my favourite bit from the film which is where Kat meets Him with the radios, as I feel that this wouldn’t give too much away to the audience, but it does include the main characters within the film. Overall I think the one we are going with which was design by James appeals to us all the best as we all know I’m definitely not the best drawer but he has managed to incorporate a section of each of the posters all into one, based around the television where the Catharsis takes place. To create the posters we all produced a rough sketch on a piece of paper, which we then scanned so that we could put it into Photoshop to add colour to it. This is something that I attempted, but it didn’t go to successfully so I have just returned to the black and white version of it instead. Where as Matthew has used it effectively to create a more in depth version of what his initial idea for the poster is.

Finally for creating the article and review on the film, we are using the Internet to help us research into different examples of articles reviewing films within different media and film magazines as well as on blogs and other film reviewing websites so that we can try and create an accurate representation as to what may be said about our science fiction short films. We need to take into consideration when creating this that we are creating a review about a low budget short film, that doesn’t have any big named actors in so that is why I am trying to use blog reviews and internet reviews to help with influencing how we review the film, so that it is more accurate to real life.

Within the whole process of creating the film we have been faced with a number of different problems. There have been ones that have only appeared once and some which have kept reoccurring and almost haunting us at times.

The main one that kept reoccurring the most was the rescheduling of shoots due to actors availability. This was something that brought a lot of pain for us at times, as it could be that we all organised with all the crew and all accept one actor who just wasn’t available at that time of day. There were many times when as a group I think we wanted to cry as we felt like we were never going to finish filming. When we finally did, you don’t know how relieved I was especially. Another one which was a more regular occurrence was that we weren’t always able to get through shots very quickly because we were at times limited with the equipment and the number of crew members we had even when we were all at a shoot. We did also have some though where we weren’t all able to be there, but we did try our best to work the shoots around so that we could be there as much as we could be.

Whilst shooting we have had a large variety of problems including the weather, for example we have had snowfall just a couple of hours before we shoot, so we were close to cancelling it, but instead we decided to push ahead and continue with it. This shoot was probably on of the most difficult as it was raining the entire time, so we had to make sure we were keeping all of the equipment dry, to not damage it, keep the actors as dry as we could for the mise en scene of the film, as well as all keep warm. Throughout the entire shoot we were all declaring that we could no longer feel out toes and by the end we were just shivering in the dark. This was definitely my least favourite shoot of them all. Closely followed by the first one on the top of the moors, where we had snow and it was absolutely freezing due to the wind that was blowing as well. Within this shoot we had to make sure to look after James’ Granddad Peter as was shooting the topless shots and the barefoot shots in this weather. We all felt awful as it was so cold, but he was an absolute trooper during the shoot and didn’t complain once. Within this shoot we also had to take into consideration that we were in a public place and for Peter to feel comfortable around the crew that were there we made sure that we were shooting quickly and effectively so that he wasn’t uncomfortable or cold at all.

For the first moors shoot we had a number of problems that occurred that day one of which was afterwards, when we lost all of the audio files for that shoot. Fortunately we were easily able to correct this without having to reshoot anything on the moors. Another problem that become more reoccurring as we came towards the later shoots within the process are that the child actors became a lot more unresponsive as time passed, so sometimes it took longer to shoot scenes because we weren’t getting what we wanted from them. This meant that we had to get further and further behind in the schedule, which meant that we were then challenged even more as we had to at points really fight to keep their attention for longer periods of time so that we could get everything that we needed shot.

On the biggest shoot we did actually have to decide that we would finish early as it was just too difficult for us all to keep focused, as well as not wanting to stay in the Gilligan’s house for too long as we had already been there for most of the day. Within a couple of shoots we did have a couple of moments of just stupidity, where I was trying to get behind the scenes pictures and videos and accidentally walked into the shot or stopped where I thought I would be out of the way but them ended up in a reflection, this was then sometimes a case with a little lack of communication on the crews side as sometimes the sound equipment or even person ended up in the shot. This is something that we learned and developed within the shoots, as it didn’t always occur, but once we picked up on it we made it a focus within a shoot so that we could avoid having to do too many takes.

When in the editing process we have been challenged by creating the naked effect, as Peter wasn’t naked in any of the shots so we have had to find an effective way to create the look that there is an naked man on the moors. We have had to blank out the under ware he was wearing so that he was comfortable whilst shooting. Masking this out has to be done frame by frame so it can be quite a time consuming process.

At this point I am still very undecided as to what case studies I would like to specifically focus on for my written exam at the end of this course. Below are some links that I am using to help me further my understanding on media regulation in the forms of the press, internet and films. With some links to cases that will help me have a bette understanding of how this may have been successful or not.

We have had the first shoot on the top of the moors, it was absolutely freezing! The night before this shoot it snowed and then was very, very windy while we were filming with a little bit of rain to top it all off. As you can see in the pictures below James’ Grandad was an absolute star! As he was bare foot in the snow and puddles, as well as topless in the rain and he didn’t complain once like the rest of us. This shoot was originally really delayed as RMA got lost with her Satnav, so we were about 40 minutes behind schedule. when we eventually got started we did manage to work pretty quickly because we all just wanted it to be over because of how cold we were, it was a second shoot where we were all comparing about losing feeling in our feet and fingers.

This is my design for a suggestion for our film poster that we have to create. We have decided to come up individually with a design for this initially so that we can show our own interpretation and so that we have a large variety of ideas that we can show the target audience to see which they are attracted to most. we are then going to choose between the options for the one we would like to develop further into the final product. At this time we are in discussion as to whether we will may try and incorporate a feature of them all within the one final poster.

Within the film industry there are a number of different genres of film that have very similar styled film posters. Below there are some of the most stereotypical ones that are around at the moment. I am going to discuss how we are going to use these to help us avoid hitting all of the stereotpes four our genre of film, which is Sci-fi.

As you can see within the first picture which is used mainly for action films, there is a common use of black and white to create a very strong and powerful image due to the contrasts within the image. Within some of the pictures there is a common use of flames, which to the images helps to add a sense of danger to the poster. This will help to attract audiences as the use of fire can mean a big use of explosions etc, that some audience members specifically look for within an action film. Other common factors include guns and the use of more than one character where the main one is either the biggest or is infant of all of the others within the poster. When the characters are used within the posters, the main ones are normally played by a big names actor, which will help to attract the audience because they like action films, but also a bigger audience who will watch the film just because that specific actor is the main character within the film.

Within the picture below you can see that there is a very common use of having the two main characters back to back. It is effectively used within the Pretty Woman poster as it is showing the two main characters, who are both big names within the actors of today, whilst also showing the two different sides that the audience gets to see within the film. This kind of positioning is used effectively within romance, comedies and romantic comedies. Within all of the posters you can see a common theme of having a white background and using pink and black as they are colours that stand out, or by using other bright colour such as yellow.

Within the following picture you will see that there is a very common use of an extreme close up of an eye. This can be used within a range of different genres including science fiction, horror and action. Within most of the pictures it can easily be noticed that the eye is the main focus of the poser so it is placed within the upper two thirds of the poster with the text placed directly below it is a very bold text. This is adapted within some of the posters to help suit the mood of the poster more, so that it can look more effective and help to helpfully attract larger audience.

The next one is a poster design that can look effective due to the power that it gives a female character. This is because within many of the posters the character is in shadow and is peering around looking at the audience. It helps to give the character power and a sense of mystery because they are of the wide stance but the lack of emotion, apart from determination that is visible on their faces. With the backgrounds including long shots it helps to create an isolated and easy feel which helps to emphasise the strength of the female character even when she is alone.

The next set of posters are ones that can be reviewed in many different ways due to the use of legs, which area automatically assumed to be female, as a way of sexualising females when they don’t need to be because they are been viewed from behind. Some people accept this as it helps to show part of the films within the posters due to being used effectively in a poster such as the James Bond poster, where as others have been influenced by this one and have created a parody version of it, which people have mixed views on due to them been so similar to the original. Within these poster you can see that there are a number of different things going on so white backgrounds are used to help stay muted so that the legs can be used to help draw attention to the middle section of the poster, where the main character is placed.

Within the following picture you will see the posters a male standing alone looking over their shoulder.This kind of poster is used commonly for actions films, which are based around a main character like Liam Neeson within the Taken trilogy.

Within this last one there is a strong use of isolation, whilst a male figure is running to show the audience that it is an action film poster. This creates a senses of urgency and want from the audience, as they want to understand who the main big named actors (normally) are running from.

As you can see below I have included one of the first drafts we have of a poster design for ‘Flicker’ at this point.

We need to make sure we are giving an honest review which highlights the both good and bad points within it without having a biased opinion as we are the creators of the film who are also producing the review. A way that we can make sure we avoid this happening is through getting our target audience to watch and answer questions about what their opinion of the film is, what they liked and disliked, how they thought the film flowed etc. We can also make sure to get members of the secondary and tertiary audience to watch and answer the same and some slightly different questions so that we can see how the different versions of the audience that we have aimed the film at have all reacted to the film.

Within this team my role isn’t the traditional role, because i’m not operating the sound or camera equipment, but I have a bigger role behind the scenes. My title within the production is Hair and Make up Artist, this means that I am in charge of making sure that all of the cast are ready completely appearance wise before they start shooting. A lot of this means that it has to take part before any filming actually takes place on any of our shoots. I am also in charge of planning for what the costumes will be for each of the shoots. I am really happy with my role within the team as it is my strength areas that are used to help with the practical side of our media project.

Within this project my roles also include helping with setting up and moving equipment, coming up with shot ideas, keeping an eye on/ looking after the actors, taking behind the scenes shots, clapper board person and getting food and snacks ready when we have a break. Within some very rare occasions I also do take the role of sound, which we can say is eventful when we are stood at the top of Baildon Moor when it is extremely windy. It was probably one of the most traumatic times whilst filming.

Yesterday we had what I think will be by far our quickest shoot. It was a total of only 45 minutes which for our group was a miracle as we normally take ages to actually start getting focused, especially when there are biscuits involved. The shoot was a great success to say that we were so limited with time. I really enjoyed this shoot as we were including extras, which are students that are from year 8 to be included as students within the classroom scene where Kat is reflecting on how she misses her new companion.

The shoot worked really smoothly as in preparation for making sure we were all there I went to collect Libby from school, so that Mr Aske was able to start having his set up all prepared and ready so that when Libby was changed into her costume we were able to start filming straight away. Once Libby had arrived at school the filming process started quite quickly as we made sure to just re arrange the tables so that we could fit the equipment in and where we wanted it so that we could easily get the shots that we needed for this shoot. We started by shooting Mr Aske’s section where he is playing the teacher talking about the subject of innocence. whilst this was happening i headed down to the school’s pantomime rehearsals to watch the end last couple of minutes as I am helping to put together the production as well as pick up the year 8’s that were helping us. When we were walking up to the location of the shoot they were all really enthusiastic as to what they were doing about how we were going to work as we are doing it for our course. When the extras arrived at the shoot they were very respectable as they politely listened and straight away got into the characters they were asked to portray. This allowed the shoot to work really smoothly as we were so limited for time.

Whilst filming Libby and a couple of the extras suggested shot ideas that we hadn’t thought of that we were really open to trying a couple were more succesful than others, but we were really happy that they were wanting to get involved and were sharing their ideasa nd opinions as to how they could adapt their performance to suit the shots at the time. From watching the camera as we were shooting I can tell that we have got some beautifuls shots for this scene and wihtin this shoot after seeing what we have filmed so far, it is a creating a feeling that we are going to produce a really good film.

For our shoot on Monday 29th January I have made sure to get everything organised so that we can get Libby and the extras that we need to where we need them for shooting at 4.15pm. Due to Libby been so young she doesn’t have the uniform that we want to use for our shoot. To make sure that she matches the rest of the cast that are extras within the scene. I have organised for a white button up shirt, a blue Titus Salt School jumper and for two red and blue (year 7) school ties to be received from the uniform office for us to use so that we can show that Libby and Evan (Kat and Toby) are within the school class and are within their normal school uniform. We have got a second red tie for Evan as he is older so his everyday school uniform has a different coloured tie, which if we let him wear within the shoot it would stand out and be a clear problem within the storyline of the film, when we are trying to show that they are best friends who are of the same age.

Our third shoot was a success! We started out by having the crew meet between 1.45pm ad 2.00pm so that we could start setting up the equipment so that we could be as well set up as we could be when the actors arrived so that we could start as soon as they arrived. From two o’clock onwards Alfie and I were waiting at the pub on the glen, which is where we told the actors to meet us so that we could bring them across to the actual location without any confusion. Once James’ granddad Peter had arrived Julie – James’ Mum took us along to the location so that we could leave Peter with Matthew and James that were already setting up the equipment. We also left Alfie so that he could help them with the bits we still needed to set up as well as help peter with anything. Julie and I then went back to the pub so that we could wait for Evan and Libby to arrive.

Once everyone had arrived with about ten minutes before the final time we asked them to arrive by which meant that we had an extra ten minutes of light that we weren’t expecting. We started with the drone shot, which we did a couple of tests with to make sure that the actors knew what they were doing as well as making sure that we were getting the exact frame for the shot that we wanted. As we were shooting we seemed to be flying through the shots slightly quicker than I think we anticipated that we would. This was a very good habit for shooting on this day outside, as it was December 21st, which is the shortest day of the year. We knew going into the shoot that it could be risky shooting on this day in the afternoon because we needed to film within the day time to twilight lighting as much as we could, so that when it comes to post production it means that we will be able to edit the colour balance to how we would like it for this scene.

Over all it was a really successful shoot and it was nice to see some of the new cast members on their first shoot. It was really nice to see two of the characters Him and Toby come to life in front of the camera, as they up to this point have only existed on paper so it is nice to see how the actors have interpreted their role to portray their characters.

A Bit About Me….

HI! My name is Annabelle and I am an A Level student at Titus Salt School. I have chosen to take Media as an A level as I am hoping that it will allow me to play to my strengths of creativity in different ways to my other A Level options. The other options I have chosen are BTEC Dance and BTEC Music. I am hoping that these options will in the future take me down the route of having an occupation within the Performing Arts field.

I have many interests and hobbies some of which include Make-up, watching Modern Family, Dancing and Singing.

This blog is here to document all of the work I produce, research and produce as a final product within the near future. Do feel free to have a good look and please ENJOY reading!